THIS WEEK
The No. 11 ranked SMSU volleyball team, after a five-set thriller against Sioux Falls and sweep of Augustana, face a trio of NSIC schools this week.
SMSU opens play with a match on Tuesday inside the PE Gym against No. 2 ranked Wayne State at 6 p.m.
The Mustangs then travel to North Dakota, facing Minot State on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by UMary the next day at 11 a.m.Â
All matches are listed in central time.
MATCH COVERAGE
Live stats and video for all matches will be available at SMSUmustangs.com
Stay up to date on the Mustangs throughout the weekend by downloading the official SMSU Athletics app.
SERIES HISTORY
SMSU will face Wayne State for the 67th time on Tuesday with the Wildcats holding a 33-32-1 advantage over the Mustangs.
The two teams have split the two most recent meetings, however the two teams have not played in Marshall since 2023. SMSU is 2-1 in the last three meetings played at the PE Gym. Tyler Boddy holds a 2-3 record as head coach of SMSU against Wayne State
The Mustangs will meet the Minot State Beavers for the 18th time on Friday with SMSU holding a perfect 17-0 lead in the series.
The Mustang, along with having never lost a match to MSU, have only ever lost two sets in those matches combined.Â
SMSU faces UMary for the 29th time on Saturday morning, with the Mustangs leading 28-0 in the series all time.
The Mustangs have swept the Marauders in the last six meetings between the two, and have not lost a set since 2019.Â
Coach Boddy is 5-0 as SMSU head coach against both Minot State and UMary.
RECAP OF LAST WEEK
The Mustangs made faced a pair of Sioux Falls area schools last week, earning a hard-fought five-set win over Sioux Falls, and a sweep of Augustana.
Leah Jones led the way for SMSU with 12 kills on 29 attacks in both matches, adding five digs and four total blocks.
Natalie Pilney, after tying a career-high mark in kills against USF with 15, ended the weekend with 22 kills, 13 total blocks, and five service aces.
Freshman Tatem Schmidt paced the Mustang offense with 50 assists in total, adding six digs in both matches, and five service aces against the Vikings. Sydney Thein recorded a 23-assist, 12-dig double-double against USF.
Ashlynn Schroeder led the way defensively 24 digs, while Paige Steinmetz racked up 19 digs. Mya Krystosek added 12 digs and eight kills.
MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS
SMSU returns 11 letter winners from the 2025 team that won 21 games last season. The 2026 team features three seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, two redshirt freshman, and five true freshmen.
The Mustangs have collected 662 kills over the first 13 matches with a team hitting percentage of .271. SMSU is holding teams to a hitting percentage of .168.Â
Senior outside hitter Leah Jones leads the Mustangs with 142 kills and 3.16 kills per set. The Marshall, Minn., native has eight matches of 10 or more kills, and is currently 12th all time in kills for SMSU.
Middle blocker Natalie Pilney ranks second with 114 kills and 2.53 kills per set. Pilney leads SMSU with 47 total blocks and a 1.04 blocks per set, while ranking third in service aces with 14.
Outside hitters Mollie Rupp and Mya Krystosek rank third and fourth on the team in kills with 111 and 101 respectively. Rupp is also third in kills per set with 2.52, while ranking second in qualified hitters with a .336 hitting percentage. Krystosek ranks third in digs with 127 and a digs per set ratio of 2.82.
Freshman middle blocker Lindsay Kruse is fifth on the team with 88 kills hitting a team-best .380. Kruse has four matches with nine or more kills and five matches hitting .400 or better, while second in blocks with 41.
Sophomore libero Ashlynn Schroeder is currently pacing the Mustangs defensively with 185 digs and 4.11 digs per set. Schroeder has 15+ digs in six matches this year including a 25 dig match against Missouri Western.
Junior Paige Steinmetz ranks second in digs with 129, and a digs per set ratio of 2.87. Steinmetz has seven matches with double-digit digs, and three matches with 14.
Freshman setter Tatem Schmidt currently leads the Mustangs with 310 assists and an assist per set ratio of 6.89. Schmidt is also fourth on the team in digs with 119. The Huxley, Iowa, native has had 20 or more assists in 12 of 13 matches, and racked up 26 digs against Missouri Western.
Schmidt is also first in service aces with 18, while freshman Reese Drake is close behind with 17.
Junior setter Sydney Thein has collected 236 assists and 5.24 assists per set. Thein has five matches with 20+ assists and four matches with eight or more digs.
SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS
SMSU remains at to No. 11 in the recent AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, released Monday afternoon.
SMSU is one of four teams from the NSIC represented in the top 25. Wayne State and Concordia-St. Paul remain at No. 2 and No. 5 respectively for the third straight week. St. Cloud State falls two spots to No. 15, and Minnesota Duluth rises one spot to No. 19.
Following the AVCA poll released on Sep. 14, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 259 of the last 260 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.
SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS Â
The Mustangs have begun the 2026 season with team and individual placements amongst the NCAA statistical leader boards.
SMSU is ranked first in assists per set (13.93) and third in kills per set (14.71).
The Mustangs are also ranked No. 16 in hitting percentage (.271), No. 18 in attacks per set (38.4), No. 24 in Match W/L percentage (.818), and No. 27 in digs per set (17.33).
Lindsay Kruse is ranked at No. 33 in hitting percentage (.380). Natalie Pilney is ranked No. 52 in blocks per set (1.04)
SMSU IN THE CONFERENCE RANKS Â
The Mustangs have begun the 2026 season with team and individual placements amongst the NSIC statistical leader boards (conference matches only).
SMSU is ranked second in total assists (320), assists per set (13.91), total kills (333), total points (424), and service aces (41), while ranking third hitting percentage (.267), kills per set (14.48), and fourth in total blocks (50).
Lindsay Kruse is ranked fifth in hitting percentage (.359). Ashlynn Schroeder is ranked sixth in digs (90). Leah Jones is ranked ninth in kills (72). Tatem Schmidt is ranked No. 10 in both assists (156) and assists per set (6.78).Â
HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY Â
Tyler Boddy is in his fifth season as head coach in 2026 and has a career record of 101-28 overall, including 62-21 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
Boddy, who spent 10 years as an assistant coach at SMSU, became the fifth head coach in the program's 50-year history on Dec. 17, 2021.Â
In that time, the program has appeared in nine NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 338-96 during his tenure which includes two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and two NSIC tournament championships.
For his efforts during his coaching career, Boddy was named a recipient of the Thirty Under 30 Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in April of 2019. He was promoted to associate head coach in the summer of 2021.
Boddy, a native of New Ulm, Minn., came to SMSU after spending two seasons (2010-11) as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh and one season (2009) at Ripon College. Boddy has also had a successful coaching career in club volleyball with his Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Club teams winning national championships in 2014 and 2018.
Boddy, a 2012 graduate of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, lives in Marshall with his wife, Alex, sons, Bronx and Wilke, and daughter, Rowan.
PREVIEWING NO. 2 WAYNE STATE
2026 Record: 14-1, 6-0 NSIC
Head Coach: Scott Kneifl, 22nd season
NSIC Preseason Rank: 2
The Wildcats finished the 2025 season with a 27-5 overall record and a 19-1 mark in NSIC play, earning their third NSIC regular season championship in the last four seasons.
Wayne State returns several All-NSIC performers from last season, including junior middle hitter Chloe Hanel, junior setter Molly Romano and sophomore outside hitter Delaney Miller.Â
Hanel earned First Team All-NSIC, AVCA All-Central Region First Team and AVCA All-America Third Team honors in 2025. She currently leads the Wildcats with a .349 hitting percentage and 53 blocks, while ranking third with 135 kills.Â
Romano was a First Team All-NSIC and AVCA All-American honorable mention selection last season and currently leads Wayne State with 521 assists and 10.22 assists per set.Â
Miller earned First Team All-NSIC, AVCA All-Central Region First Team and AVCA All-America Third Team honors as a freshman and currently leads WSC with 165 kills and 3.3 kills per set.
PREVIEWING MINOT STATE
2026 Record: 3-11, 0-6 NSIC
Head Coach: Josh Wastvedt, 1st season
NSIC Preseason Rank: 16
The Beavers finished the 2025 season with a 3-25 overall record and a 1-19 mark in NSIC play.
Senior outside hitter Caton Pearcy was selected as Minot State's 2026 NSIC Player to Watch after finishing second on the team in both kills (191) and digs (295) in 2025. Pearcy is currently second on the team with 112 kills, 2.2 kills per set, and 177 digs.Â
Junior libero Maya Vibeto leads the Beavers defensively with 269 digs, while averaging 5.17 digs per set.
PREVIEWING UMARY
2026 Record: 3-11, 1-5 NSIC
Head Coach: Rob Frost, 2nd season
NSIC Preseason Rank: 14
The Marauders finished the 2025 season with a 6-22 overall record and a 3-17 mark in NSIC play, finishing 14th in the conference.
Junior outside hitter Judith Burke returns after leading the Marauders with 313 kills in 2025. Burke currently leads UMary with 144 kills, averaging 3.06 kills per set.Â
Junior middle blocker Holli Klettheimer was named UMary's 2026 NSIC Player to Watch after leading the team with a .273 attack percentage and recording 150 kills and 53 blocks last season. Klettheimer currently has 97 kills, averaging 2.31 kills per set, while leading the Marauders with 31 blocks.
ON THE HORIZON
SMSU begins their four-match home stretch next weekend.
The Mustangs face Jamestown on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. for the team's annual 'Red Out' in support of heart disease awareness, before facing Northern State the following day at 2 p.m.
